WSOF is no consolation prize for fast-rising Georgi Karakhanyan

Georgi Karakhanyan knows you probably know what his first choice was. After racking up some big wins on the regional circuit, he wanted a long-term home with a major organization.

With recent victories over the likes of Micah Miller, Hiroyuki Takaya and Din Thomas – part of his current seven-fight winning streak – he felt he deserved the opportunity to fight the sport’s best 145-pounders without having to travel the globe with a variety of organizations.

MMA’s most prominent promotion apparently took a pass, but Karakhanyan doesn’t feel like his new deal with World Series of Fighting is a consolation prize.

“It feels good because I’ve fought all around the world with the one goal in mind, which I’m not going to talk about it,” Karakhanyan told MMAjunkie.com Radio, hinting at the UFC. “But it’s good that [WSOF] came in and talked to my manager, Mike Kogan, and they offered us a good contract. They’re doing big things. They have really good, talented fighters and some UFC vets there.

“I’m just happy I ended up with a great organization like World Series of Fighting with great TV exposure with the NBC Sports Network.”

Karakhanyan (21-3-1) takes his glass-half-full mentality into Saturday’s WSOF 5 event, where he meets former UFC fighter Waylon Lowe (14-4) at Revel Atlantic City in New Jersey. They kick off the NBC Sports Network-televised main card.

Karakhanyan, who recently moved into an honorable-mention slot in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA featherweight rankings, recently has competed for organizations such as Tachi Palace Fights (where he won a title), BAMMA, DREAM and Legacy FC. The Bellator vet said he’s now happy to have a multi-fight deal with one organization.

“They gave me a good offer I couldn’t refuse,” he said. “So I took it, and I’m their fighter, and I’m willing to do anything to put on a good show for them.”

In his past 19 fights, Karakhanyan has suffered just two losses: to Joe Warren and Patricio Freire under the Bellator banner. The Warren loss specifically served as proof that Karakhanyan needed to shore up his wrestling game. Unlike many fighters, he didn’t grow up on the mats, and the 28-year-old admits it’s been a challenge to catch up.

“No matter what, wrestling practice sucks,” he said. “It’s very grueling, very, very tiring, very physical, very mental. But if you can wrestle three five-minute rounds, you’re in great fighting shape. That’s how I look at it.”

So he’s spent much of this camp with former NCAA Division I wrestlers. He knows he needs knows the skills against Lowe, a three-time Division II national wrestling champion who has a knack for grinding down and wearing out opponents.

Karakhanyan had picked up stoppages in 15 of his first 18 wins, but the past three have come via stoppage. But as he learned against Miller and Takaya, and as he’s sure he’ll need against Lowe, when you can’t stop opponents, you still need to dominate them.

“I learned from those two fights that you can’t just win fights by finishing,” he said. “I got used to finishing, but against those tough fighters, I learned how to beat them in decisions. I learned how to break them, them find their weaknesses.

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